4/21 - 4/27

Mon: Boston Marathon
Tues: off
Wed: Swim- 1000yd, 5 sets 100yd pull / 100yd swim, 50yd
Thurs: Swim- 5 sets of 200yd swim / 200yd pull, 2 sets of 100yd aqua jog / 100yd breaststroke, 100yd
Fri: 45min exercise bike
Sat: Swim- 50-100-200-300-400-300-200-100-50 yd with 100yd breaststroke between each, 100yd aqua jog
Sun: 20min elliptical, 40min exercise bike
Total: 26.2 miles

I haven't taken a single running step since Boylston St. Maybe tomorrow. I can sort of walk down stairs like a normal person, and my right leg stopped randomly giving out, so that's a good enough reason to lift my moratorium on running. Plus, I've had a crick in my neck or shoulder or something since Thursday, which makes swimming more difficult. As for the rest of the week after Monday...

So when I went to look back at if I referred to swimming with a pull buoy as "pull" or "stroke", I realized that Wednesday was my first swim workout of 2014. HA! That's probably a problem. No wonder my back and core are weak! Anyways, Wednesday's swim was slow; I could barely kick my legs, and I couldn't flip-turn unless I had a pull buoy. Thursday's swim was much better, although my neck/shoulder hurt. However, after two days of swimming, I could kind of walk normally. On Friday, I decided to give my neck/shoulder a break, and Matt and I went to the gym. I kept the resistance low on the exercise bike, but tried to keep my cadence around 90rpm. I also started reading The Perfect Mile, which I've been wanting to read for like 2 years. Saturday brought more swimming. I swam at Fitness Connection, and the pool was really warm. Although I normally moan and groan about how cold the Pullen Park pool is (mainly because I'm not swimming as fast as the people on the swim teams that they lower the temperature for), I won't anymore. Also, they don't have pull buoys, so I did my normal "ladder" workout with 100m breaststroke instead. Being that it used different muscles than freestyle, I think it actually helped. On Sunday, I tried the closest thing to running that's not running... the elliptical. It went fine for the 20min that I was on it, and I switched to the exercise bike only so I wouldn't push my luck.

Also, even though I devoted two blog posts to it, I have one last thing to say about the Boston Marathon. Monday's total should be more like 29 miles. I'm kidding, but kind of not. Seriously.

1. You have about a mile to the start from Athlete's Village, which if you're late, you actually end up running some of. 
2. Then, you run Boston Marathon Course, which IS 26.2 miles. 
3. Then, you cross the finish line, and embark on your journey down the finishing chute. I swear it is a 1/2 mile long. They give you your medal and poncho (mylar cape on steroids) within the first 1/4 mile, but I think it was a 1/3 of a mile before I got water, which I downed immediately. By the time I got to the end of the water handing out, I had already picked up another. Then came gatorade, then some protein shake, then some protein bars, then some food. You have so much stuff by the end that you can barely carry it (and your inhaler), and barely walk. But, the journey doesn't end there.
4. You then walk a few blocks over and head right back up a street that parallels the finishing chute until you get to the family meeting area. The H's are about 2/3's the distance to the finishing line, and the C's are even further (good thing I hyphenate my name so I can choose!).
5. You then back track to the T. Which, this year, meant heading to the Boston Commons. Which is not close. Also, I think the curbs in Boston are extra tall.